“No Matter How You Feel, Get Up, Dress Up and Show Up!

Its been quite a while since I last checked in with you all for a I suppose proper blog post not just me sharing recipes! So I guess the last 2 months have been a whirlwind for me and TheNakedBlondie to say the least. Last month my blog had over 300,000 hits which is just unbelievable really. I honestly never expected such a massive responce when I began this blog last July. And we can’t forget Mr.Jamie Oliver himself!! I am still in shock, he really has been my ultimate food inspiration since I was 12 or 13 years old, so to have him take the time to notice me and my blog really hit home what I have achieved in the last year. My Crispy Shredded Salted Chilli Chicken is still as popular as ever with over 200,000 people viewing it which is like so crazy!!

I am sure you have all seen me posting over the past few days that myself and Jen ‘TheStyleShaper’ had a photoshoot last night for our local Newspaper, it was just so fab to get dressed up, do our hair and slap on the war paint! It was such an honour to be given the opportunity to share my journey and to be honest I am living in a bubble of sheer elation. Of course tonight is a different story, I am sitting here in my polka dot dressing gown snuggled on the couch full of a head cold and feeling sorry for myself! I also have a massive sky scraper of a spot on my forehead that no amount of Sudocrem will remove! (Sorry TMI) Jen of course will be keeping you all up to date in the next few days sharing how she styled me and giving you some tips as she really does an amazing Job! I have my own style but to be honest most days im in leggings and a tshirt covered in something Mr.Scottie has wiped all over me. It was a lovely change to get dolled up on a Thursday night.

This week has been manic, weigh in to start the week, I was very happy to have lost yet another pound I think now I am nearing my 100lb mark!! Now that will be celebrated with a glass of bubbly!! To date I have lost 6 stone 8.5lbs, when I say it or write it, it still doesn’t really sink in that I have lost that amount. Sometimes I feel like the old me, weird I know but it does take a long time from your head to catch up with it all. I also announced that on the 26th of March TheNakedBlondie will be making her 1st appearance in ‘Fiona’s SlimmingWorld Portlaoise’ to share my journey and I am sure you will all have loads of questions to ask me! The responce from that alone is just such an honour and I have some new dates and venues that I will be appearing at to be announced over the next few weeks!! I get to meet so many more of my amazing followers, how exciting is that!! Will you be the lucky ones??

I began my Journey in January 13′ thinking here we go again!!! How wrong was I? How you can completely change your life in 1 year all because you believed in yourself? Hell I shoulda done this years ago!! There is no point looking to the past, my time is now, I believe that yes the dots will eventually connect but it’s how you work for it too! I didnt loose over 6 and half stone sitting on this couch, I made it all happen! Little old me who was afraid to walk out the front door for fear of what people would think! Full of depression and anxiety I walked through those SlimmingWorld doors and changed my life, nobody did it for me! The reason I didn’t do it before was that I was afraid of what people would think, I didn’t believe I would succeed, I didn’t believe in myself, I didn’t see it as a life journey and I certainly didn’t believe I would ever be writing to all you amazing people every week! You are the reason I keep going, keep creating new recipes and strive to continually make a better life for me and my family. You are my daily INSPIRATION!!!

Of course the week isn’t over yet, we still have mothers day on Sunday. To be honest this week is just up and down, back and foward. I am doing my best food wise, there may have been a few slip ups but I am only human and the beauty of this journey is there is no race to the finish line! The scales are the scales and it doesn’t measure how utterly bloody amazing I felt last night!! Always make the best choices you can and as I always say its not just the weight you loose its the life you gain!!

Well done you, I love your blog so very honest & a million thanks for recipes, I joined SW this time last year took awhile to get my head around programme as i had been in WW years ago, haven’t been in months due to surgery etc., so can’t drive, so you keep me on track!!! Photos are beautiful, keep up the good work for all us followers 👏👏👏👏